My sweet ten

The ten sweet faces that I treasure...

In those days...

The angel recites the first 20 verses of Luke 2, by memory, and the traditional re-enactment of the nativity begins..

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Mary and Joseph share the care of the infant child....

Mary holds the babe...

and then decides Joseph can do a better job...

the shepherds arrive to see the child born in a stable...

together they stand in awe...

a precious little lamb comes along as well...

yes, the lamb was very precious, indeed....

And then the three kings arrived from their long journey...

they had followed the star that shone brightly in the east...

and they fell on their knees and worshipped Him.

It was quite a gathering.

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Pajama party

Just got home from a wonderful Christmas celebration with our sons, their wives and these precious ten grandchildren!

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Here is grandma and the ten ... in our 'jammies"! Oh, we had a cozy time together!

More pictures coming...

Christmas gifts...

Our Christmas gifts... the important ones.... come in all sizes and shapes...

ten sweet grandchildren.. .... and three wonderful sons and daughter-in-laws!!

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We are so blessed.

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Merry Christmas one and all!!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours....

Easy treats...

Some treats come easy....

Big smile

Since yesterday's post showed a rather somber little boy, I want to be sure to post the REAL little guy.... and a thank you to Aunt Marlane for the great new football shirt too!

S.P. loves his new look and, I think, he figures he is now OLDER.

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Time will tell.

Sunday school children sing

This morning in church the children of our Sunday school sang some songs for Christmas.

Our oldest grand-daughter is pictured here with the 1st through 6th graders.

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The preschoolers sang in another of our morning services.

They were wonderful!

Our 4 year old grandson did everything he was supposed to do, all the words, all the motions, and was as sweet as could be!

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But I'm not sure who this little boy is.....
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Do you know??
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He is our grandson who just turned 3 years old....
and he wanted to have his hair cut on his birthday!
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Big surprise for so many! We didn't know who he was!
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He was very cooperative during the singing, though I'm not sure if he ever sang.
He stood stoic for the first song and then, after a big yawn, chose to sit down during the next song. But he acted just fine and we were proud of him for staying up there!
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Oh, Mr. Serious....
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And, by the way, he was thrilled at his new look!
It was so fun to see how much he loved his hair cut!

Christmas around the house

If you double click on the picture above, you can make it larger... and then you can see a little bit of Christmas around our home.

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It's Christmas week! How exciting!

The book signing...

Today was the day! The public distribution of our friend Ray's wonderful new devotional.

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I had to bring my camera for the big event!
In the morning he signed books at our local (and wonderful) book store.
His supportive wife was along as well...
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Then in the afternoon another book signing event was held in the foyer and library of our church. It was a fun celebration.
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And again, his very supportive wife was a lovely hostess.

We had hot cider and fine Christmas treats.

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There were books available on the tables. Ray sat in the library and signed books while the rest of us visited and enjoyed the fellowship.

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And from the very youngest (this is Ray's daughter holding her grand-daughter)
to...

some of the not so young....

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Oh, yes, did I mention that...

a good time was had by all?

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Ray, good job. We are pleased to be your friends.

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for ordering information go to.....

www.mondaymorninglift.com

Do you see what I see?

The view behind our home is all natural environment. We have lots of trees, all presently laden with snow, and beyond the trees a river. We become quite familiar with the various markings of tuffs of bushes against the white snow - and when some animal ventures forth, we are often aware of its presence. We have a number of deer that venture forth from the thicket about 5 p.m. in the evening; and in the morning we can also see they visited our yard as their tracks are all around.

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This morning hubby caught sight of a deer coming out to browse.

Can you find him?

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Here's a few more photos to help you..

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Can you see him yet?
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Aha, now I KNOW you can see him....

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He took a nice pose for the picture....

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(This picture is cropped; the others were just with my zoom lens.)

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It's so much fun to watch outside our windows - while we have a cup of coffee in our hands..
Wish you could come by to visit and enjoy with us!

Someone is now THREE!

Happy Birthday today to grandchild #7....

now a big THREE year old!

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He is very active and fun little boy!

Happy Birthday dear!

It's not every day that...

It's not every day that someone you know WELL becomes a published author!

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Our close friend Ray has written a weekly devotional for the last three years and sent it via email to a number of people; the number growing to 600!

He was encouraged to compile the thoughtful and well-written devotionals into a book. The book is complete and now available to anyone; it is called "Monday Morning Lift" and you can check it out at www.mondaymorninglift.com

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Ray and his wife are one of the 10 couples that have met weekly on Sunday evenings in our home for Bible study. We have been together for a number of years and have supported each other through good times and difficult times. We have, as a group, experienced health issues, cancer diagnosises and treatment, loss of family members, loss of jobs, and the joys of good reports, new grandchildren, new jobs, and so many praise items. And now today we rejoice in having Ray's devotional book published!

May it be the source of blessing for many!

Congratulations Ray

Remembering

Today I am remembering my dear sister-in-law Martha, who would have celebrated her 72nd birthday today. However, she is celebrating in eternity with her Saviour, and for that I rejoice while I also grieve.

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Martha and her husband Norman (my husband's brother) became husband and wife in 2001 - the first marriage for both of them and their families rejoiced greatly! I had the extra special honor of being Martha's wedding coordinator at our church and from that point on we had a special bond. Martha and Norman lived in the same small town as we, so we spent lots of wonderful time together; enjoyed great laughs, great meals (many Norwegian meals!) and we shared our faith in Jesus as our redeemer.

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In the photograph above, Martha is holding her goddaughter, born October 2009. Little did we realize that Martha would be sitting at the feet of Jesus in less then 6 months..

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If you have read my blog in the past, you may have seen some pictures of a new home being constructed in 2009 by my husband, which was for Martha and Norman. In fact, this time last year, she and I were painting the walls in the new home.

Little did we know that her new home was going to be WAY better..

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Martha learned she had cancer in February 2010 and began treatment. We were all hopeful, though we knew she had a tough battle ahead. However, the Lord called her home in March suddenly. What a shock for all of us!

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And so today I think of Martha, her birthday. I am thankful for our friendship and bond; I believe in a loving God that has redeemed Martha and I look forward to the day we all celebrate together at the feet of Jesus.

What a day that will be.

Ladies that brunch

Yesterday I attended a lovely Christmas brunch with the ladies from my
PEO (Philanthropic Educational Organization) group.

I brought my camera and captured lots of lovely smiles.

Don't you agree?

Date night

With the cold winds blowing, it's good to stay home...

we planned our little date night this weekend as we remembered a similar meal in Banff, Alberta in 2002. We had taken a healthy walk in the brisk October air and arrived

at a little lodge and settled by the fireplace, sitting in comfortable leather furniture and enjoyed a similar spread of fresh meats & cheese, breads, vegetables and fruit. (We added the shrimp and gjetost!)

It was too far to go back to Banff, so we made our own date night...

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A cozy fire and each other.
Perfect.

Gingerbread houses

Today, after Sunday dinner at our home, three sweet grand-children got to help grandma decorate some gingerbread houses. I made a few houses and put some icing in piping bags and candy in bowls... and let them help me...

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Except this grand-daughter didn't need any help... I just couldn't believe she was so confident and creative...

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Some little blond grandson hid as soon as I pulled out the camera...

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but I got a close-up of his hands putting some candies on the side of a house that he had helped me decorate last week when he was visiting.
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This grandson was able to stay interested a bit longer then his younger brother.

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However, this gal just continued her creative ways, adding a front walk of gum drops and sundry candies.

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I just love seeing her squeeze the icing out of the piping bag.

She looks like a pro already, don't you think?
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p.s. thanks to a few people who made comments lately, especially those whom I have never met in person, but that stop by my blog. It makes my day to know that! Thanks!